St. Brigid's Day - Sharon Horgan & Alison Spittle

Irish Comedy Writers: In Focus

Sharon Horgan and Alison Spittle

hosted by Angela Scanlon

This February, Irish Film London worked on a project run by the Irish Embassy in London, which marked Lá Fhéile Bríde (St. Brigid's Day) 2018.

Comedy writers and actors Sharon Horgan and Alison Spittle with TV Presenter Angela Scanlon at the St Brigids Day event at the Embassy of Ireland GB, 2018.

The one-day event celebrated the creativity of Irish Women and took place at the Irish Embassy. There were multiple partners, special guests and key speakers across diverse fields such as music, literature, fashion, art, film, TV, animation, business and technology. We are delighted to have collaborated on the film and TV aspects of the project.

During this event, our host Angela Scanlon chatted to Sharon and Alison about their careers as creative women in the world of Comedy. The discussion covered what they've found challenging and rewarding and what we can expect from them in the coming years.

Sharon Horgan

Sharon Horgan is a BAFTA winning Irish actress, writer, producer and director who is perhaps best known for her multiple award-winning sitcom CATASTROPHE, which she co-writes and stars in with Rob Delaney, airing on Amazon Prime and Channel 4. The series won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. She gained a further nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy for Catastrophe alongside a Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

Sharon’s further acting credits include THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF TODD MARGARET (IFC), PSYCHOBITCHES (Sky Arts), THE BORROWERS (BBC), FREE AGENTS (C4), DEAD BOSS (BBC) and BAD SUGAR (C4), as well as the films RUN AND JUMP, DEATH OF A SUPERHERO, and MAN UP. She was nominated for two BAFTA Awards and won two British Comedy Awards for her BBC show PULLING which she co-wrote and starred in.

As a director, Sharon won critical acclaim with her debut short-film THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, which also went on to win the Outstanding Achievement Award at the International 3D Awards.

Sharon co-founded the independent production company Merman with producer Clelia Mountford. Merman recently shot the first series of MOTHERLAND which was co-written by Sharon and aired on BBC Two to great critical acclaim. Merman also co-produced CATASTROPHE and DIVORCE, a comedy created, written and produced by Sharon and starring Sarah Jessica Parker, the second series of which will air on HBO starting in January 2018.

This year, Sharon will star alongside Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Kyle Chandler in the new Warner Brothers feature film GAME NIGHT - out on 23rd February in the US and 4th May in the UK.

Alison Spittle

Alison Spittle is an Irish comedian, actress and writer. She has worked for RTÉ Radio 1 and Newstalk and appeared on The Guilty Feminist podcast. She is the host and creator of the Alison Spittle Show podcast. She has created sketches for Republic of Telly, This is Ireland with Des Bishop and the RTE player. She wrote the Babycow Produced short film, Alison Spittle in Ireland for Sky Arts. She has performed at the Abbey, the 3 Arena and headlined Vicar Street. She created, wrote and starred in the sit-com Nowhere Fast in 2017 with RTE and BBC worldwide.

Hosted by: Angela Scanlon

Angela co-hosts the legendary BBC2 show Robot Wars alongside Dara Ó Briain. She is a regular presenter on The One Show and has recently joined BBC Radio 2, presenting their late night playlists. Earlier this year she fronted a BBC One documentary ‘World’s Oldest Family’.

Angela’s first major documentary, OI GINGER, aired in 2014 on RTE to critical acclaim – the show trended worldwide on Twitter and showed off Angela’s playful presenting style and her ability to dig deep into a subject matter. The success of the show led to a follow-up series, Angela Scanlon: Full Frontal in 2015, where she tackled taboo subjects such as extreme makeovers, fitness and nudity.

A further series followed Angela Scanlon’s Close Encounters, which saw her dive into the world of WWE with world champion Sheamus, head to NYC to chat books and babies with Dawn O’Porter and take on Katie Hopkins in a very honest and candid interview.

Shortly after, she co-hosted the BBC’s live coverage of ‘T in the Park’ and, most recently, BBC Three’s Red Carpet BAFTA Show where she interviewed nominees including Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett and Idris Elba.

Angela previously co-hosted the travel series Getaways with Joe Lindsey for BBC Northern Ireland. Following that, she received the role as digital host of The Voice UK 2016.